Patent Application
20240061451
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
“TopSink: Liquid Storage Device with Automatic Discharge in High Volume Batches” (hereto forward referred to as “TopSink”) is useful in the area of water catchment, storage, and use. As in the case of rain barrels and watering crops or a garden, for example. It is a device that uses the energy and weight of stored water to move that same water across a distance or over an incline, with no external input. While it can be used for any liquid of the appropriate viscosity, “water” shall be used to refer to liquids in general for the remainder of this Specification.
Any amount of stored water acts like a battery; it is stored energy waiting to be used. This is why many towns pump their public water high into a tower. In the event that the power goes out, water can still flow to residents' homes through the pull of gravity. TopSink works under the same premise. This stored energy is called hydrostatic pressure. Despite this rich potential energy on even small scales, consumer options for rain water storage and collection do not include any means of harnessing this opportunity.
When the typical DIY or store-bought rain barrel design reaches capacity, its overflow—if it is equipped with one at all—is merely a stand pipe that enables surplus water to trickle out of the barrel before the barrel itself overflows. This barrel from Home Depot, for example, is one of the more popular—and more expensive—options for the consumer, and its overflow design is customary across many other rain barrel options. The trickle of water produced by the overflow in barrels like this is unusable, in terms of energy generation, because the air in the discharge line absorbs any pressure or suction that would otherwise give the flowing water force.
Herein lies the problem: These rain barrel designs wastes the potential energy of stored water, leaving the laborious moving of said water entirely up to the physical effort of the person(s) using it, or requiring the use of external inputs like electricity.
This problem presents an opportunity: if a device existed that could release a large pre-determined amount of water all at once, when capacity is reached, then the rushing flow in the discharge line would be unweakened by air and be able to carry itself further, even over an incline (as long as the final destination is lower than the point of origin).
TopSink does exactly that, TopSink is triggered when water storage reaches its full capacity, and then it releases all at once a pre-determined large volume of water, 5 gallons, 10 gallons, 20 gallons, etc, By releasing many gallons at once, instead of releasing a slow steady trickle, the large volume of water in the discharge line dramatically increases the “head” of the flow. Head is the measurement of how high water can move against gravity; it is a combination of momentum and suction in the line. The more water moving in a line, and the less air in the line, the stronger the head, With more optimal head, TopSink turns an otherwise useless trickle of excess water into a force that can surge up an incline or power a hydraulic ram pump (which uses head to pump water uphill).
On its own, without the aid of a pump, TopSink can move water across a distance and even up an incline if its final destination is still lower than the point of origin. If this same amount of excess water were released as a trickle, instead of a burst of higher volume, the water would pool and the air in the line would absorb any force that would have enabled it to power over a hill.
This idea was first envisioned in the spring of 2022, when I had collected an abundance of rainwater along the gutters of my home, but was unable to transport it easily across the yard to my garden or fruit trees. My options were to run a hose between barrels when there was enough water to create head in the line, or to carry 5 gallon buckets between the locations. Both of these options were labor intensive and, since I was not transferring the water during a rain storm, I would miss out on the dozens of gallons of water per barrel that were discharged through the overflow line during the storm.
“If only the barrel would release its overflow in 5 gallon batches, there would be enough head for the water to carry itself through the hose to the barrels in the garden each time the barrel reached capacity!” I thought. Then, after some experimentation, a repurposed funnel and some plumbers putty, a working model was created.
“TopSink: Liquid Storage Device with Automatic Discharge in High Volume Batches” is an automatic drainage device that floats on the surface of the water in a rain barrel or other storage device. It rises with the level of the water until it nears the barrel's maximum capacity, when it is triggered to sink and drain out a predetermined volume of water. When the barrel is filled to capacity, TopSink's discharge line is pulled taught which causes it to be overtaken by the water, filling up and quickly sinking. As it sinks it begins to drain the barrel rapidly. TopSink continues to sink and drain until it is caught by the catch rods, which are set to an adjustable, predetermined depth. The catch rods establish how much water is drained from the barrel each time capacity is reached. Water continues to drain from TopSink until the water level gets to the level of the catch rods. Then, TopSink begins to float again on the surface of the water, until capacity is reached again. By releasing a large volume of water all at once, the overflow has more power in the discharge line, enabling water to travel to a desired location without the need for external inputs like electricity.
Image 1: TopSink Nearing Capacity
Image 2: TopSink Arrives at Capacity
Image 3: TopSink Draining
Image 4: TopSink Completes Drainage Cycle
Image 5: TopSink Returning to Surface
Image 6: Water flow without TopSink—air in the line
Image 7: Water flow with TopSink—no air in the line
Image: TopSink: a close up
In the simplest terms, “TopSink: Liquid Storage Device with Automatic Discharge in High Volume Batches” is a floating, modified, funnel attached to a flexible discharge line on the inside of a rain barrel.
From top to bottom, TopSink consists of a floating, modified funnel inside any type of water storage. The funnel is connected to a flexible discharge line which connects to a port on the side of the barrel. Just outside the barrel, this port has a shut off which can be used to turn TopSink's drainage cycles on or off. This shut off is connected to a hose that runs to the desired destination for the water, like another barrel or a reservoir away from the house.
The modified funnel floats when the water in the barrel is below capacity because the funnel and the discharge line are filled with air so they float like an empty bottle.
When the water in the storage container approaches capacity. TopSink's discharge line is pulled taught, anchoring the brim of TopSink as the water continues to rise. The water eventually overtakes TopSink and the funnel quickly fills with water and sinks. There is a short standpipe inside the funnel, which enables water to build up in the funnel before it begins to drain. This gives the funnel added weight before it sinks and begins to drain, which makes for a quicker trigger point once capacity is reached.
When TopSink sinks, water quickly begins to flow out of it through the discharge line. Since the line is submerged now, no air enters the system, creating optimal “head” in the discharge line. This is TopSink's primary function and advantage, and where it is differentiated from more traditional overflow designs; it drains water from below the surface, at a high volume, creating a strong flowing force in the discharge line.
TopSink sinks from the surface all the way down to a preset catch rod. The catch rod can be set to stop TopSink after discharging 3 gallons, 10 gallons, 13 the way up to 30 gallons of release. These measurements can change relative to the size of the container.
From the catch rod, TopSink continues to drain the barrel until the water level falls just below TopSink's new location. Then, the brim of the funnel begins to rise above the surface of the water, and as the last of the drained water gurgles out of the funnel and discharge line, TopSink begins to float on the surface of the water as it rises again. No water is flowing out of the discharge line at this time because its opening is above the surface of the rising water.
Whether the water level continues to rise from the current rain storm, or the next one weeks later, TopSink will stay afloat on the surface until it reaches capacity again, when the cycle will begin again.
TopSink provides the following advantages;
